


Reverberating Consequences

by YancyPants



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Dorks in Love, M/M, flashvibeweek2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 13:06:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6805879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YancyPants/pseuds/YancyPants
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry Allen has no clue that his boyfriend, Cisco Ramon, is not in fact a mechanical engineer, but a secret agent. So when he's kidnapped by a group of people out for revenge it's safe to say that Barry's a little out of the loop. His entrance into the loop is turbulent to say the least.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reverberating Consequences

**Author's Note:**

> Played fast and loose with character allegiances in this one because I thought it would be interesting. This one got away from me honestly...I had a hard time editing so any mistakes are on me.

Thursday at 9:23 P.M. Cisco Ramon has his key in the lock of the door to his apartment after a grueling day at work when the phone in his back pocket vibrates violently. He's half tempted to pitch the damn thing across the parking lot so that he can walk inside, kiss his boyfriend, and curl up on the couch with him because it's movie night and that's the best way to watch _Die Hard_. On the couch with his boyfriend. Not dealing with-

“Hartley,” Cisco says, bringing the phone from his pocket to his ear as if the device weighs as much as a brick. “Whatever it is get Ronnie to do it.”

“You know as well as I do that Caitlin would kill me if I called Ronnie away from their anniversary dinner,” Hartley replies in that stupid tone that makes Cisco purse his lips and roll his eyes upward. Sure, Hartley can't see him but that's not going to stop him from being difficult.

“I do know and yet I don't care. At all. It's movie night and I am literally five steps away from heaven on earth. Get Ronnie to do it.”

When Hartley doesn't immediately respond Cisco turns his key and opens the door to his home. Within seconds of entering the aroma of movie butter popcorn hits him like a freight train. He might just be salivating a bit.

Cisco steps further inside, throws his keys into the bowl on the table to his left, and lets the door close behind him. Part of him, the irksome, responsible part, knows that Hartley must be calling for a legitimate reason, he is Cisco's handler so he wouldn't call just to vex him, not on his work phone anyway. Despite their differences there is a thread of professional courtesy between them, tenuous though it may be.

“Cisco I'm sorry but you have to come in,” Hartley says just as Cisco's boyfriend, Barry Allen, emerges from the kitchen. He smiles at the sight of Cisco at the door when Hartley finishes his thought. “Thawne’s back.”

“Excuse me?” Cisco goes pale and his palms begin to sweat. He just barely manages to give Barry a wave before he wanders toward the living room in a daze listening to Hartley explain the situation.

“Felicity got word from Oliver and his sources that Thawne is back in Central City and unsurprisingly he's looking for you. Well, Vibe,” Hartley sighs and Cisco can almost see him pinching the bridge of his nose over the phone. “Reverb actually, but you get the point.”

Cisco paces the length of the living room and slides a hand down his face.

“Call me crazy but I thought we got rid of him,” he pauses when Barry enters the room carrying two glasses filled with root beer. “I thought we took care of this earlier.”

“As did I, but that isn't the case anymore. We need to deal with this and fast which means you need to come in. Now.”  

Cisco despises the way Barry's face scrunches when he sighs and tells Hartley, “I'll be there in ten.”

Hartley ends with an apology and Cisco hangs up the phone by slamming his thumb on the red end call button on the screen. He stares at the phone for a moment before huffing and turning the screen off with the side button.

“Who was that?” Barry asks setting the glasses down on the coffee table that also happens to be supporting a massive bowl of popcorn. Cisco wants to cry but he can't bring himself to take any since he'll be gone soon anyway.

“Colleague. There's an emergency and he needs my help-

“So you have to go back to work? You just got home,” Barry cuts in with a frown that makes Cisco want to fall through the floor for being the cause of that expression. Instead he walks forward and puts his hands around Barry's arms. He sighs and squeezes lightly.

“I know, I know Bar, and I am so sorry. Trust me if I could avoid this I would.”

Barry rolls his head back slowly and looks at the ceiling as he heaves his chest in exasperation. “You know, for a job that you never talk about it sure seems busy.” He pauses for a moment to huff out a laugh and look at Cisco. “I mean we've been together two years and I don't even know what you do. Aside from  what I assume mechanical engineers do.”

“Babe I'm sor-

“You don't have to apologize, you already told me about Correspondence Labs’ nondisclosure agreements. I get it. You have to keep secrets.”

Secrets are the name of the game for Cisco as a secret agent and all that. And normally that doesn't bother him, people don't need to know everything about him and small talk usually steers clear of any topics that would bring his primary profession to light. When it comes to Barry though he wishes he could spill. About everything. The constant lying and ducking out of dates is going to put a strain on their relationship and that terrifies Cisco. This relationship is the best thing in his life, Barry is the one person he's certain about. He doesn't want to lose that.

“Alright go do your thing, I've got some reports that I can catch up on while you're gone, Captain Singh’s been hounding me about them anyway.” Barry says lightly with a small smile on his lips. “And by the way, I'm not saving you any popcorn.”

The two look at each other for a minute before Cisco grins and moves his hands to cup Barry's face.

"You are absolutely fantastic, have I ever told you that?"

Barry hums. “You could stand to say it more often.”

Cisco pulls Barry's face closer so that he can kiss him. On the cheek. The other cheek. The forehead, and nose.

“You,” kiss. “Are,” kiss. “Absolutely,” kiss. “Fantastic,” kiss.

Barry pulls a fast one on Cisco by shifting his face just enough so that when Cisco leans in for that last kiss he winds up kissing Barry on the lips instead of the face. Not a problem, just not what he was expecting.

They slide in closer to each other deepening the kiss and stay entangled until Cisco's forced to pull away because, air for one a guy's gotta breathe, and the fact that his phone gives off a chime indicating a message from Hartley.

_Tick Tock, Vibe_

_-Piper_

“Shit, I really gotta go, but,” Cisco pauses to give Barry another chaste kiss. “I love you and I'll be back before you know it.”

Barry chuckles and makes his way over to the door. He shoves Cisco's keys onto his chest and pushes him out of their apartment with a quick goodbye and final kiss on the cheek. Their apartment is situated on the ground level so Barry moves from the doorway to the window to watch Cisco leave. Once the car pulls out of the lot Barry sighs and locks the door.

The sight of the bowl of popcorn and root beer gives Barry pause.  Even though he's used to it, Cisco's propensity for cancelling plans has only gotten worse since their relationship began and of course Barry Allen isn't one to jump to conclusions but he's starting to feel worried.

Barry stares at the living room for a moment before pulling his phone out of his pocket. He rolls his thumb against the lock screen and opens his phone pulling up his contacts and hitting call on the name he wants.

“Hey Iris,” he says when the call picks up. “Are you free? I really need someone to talk to.”

 

* * *

 

“So far we've only been able to track where he's been but as far as where he's headed next we have no idea.”

Cisco looks at Hartley in disbelief. “You can't track him but you know where he's been? Is he leaving I.O.Us in every place he's stayed?”

“More or less,” Hartley says and taps away at the keyboard in front of him. He motions for Cisco to stand behind him and pulls up a series of pictures for the other man to see. Cisco's heart stutters at the sight in front of him.

“That’s...excessive,” Cisco whispers rubbing a hand over his heart.

Hartley continues to click through a fair amount of images, all of them being a physical picture of Cisco taped to a wall with a knife stabbed through his chest. His heart. What's worse is as Hartley moves on the images become more recent changing from the time he spent undercover with the man now clearly out for his blood, to pictures of him around Central City after the fact. As terrifying as that is Cisco's dealt with worse so he's still decidedly unimpressed by the obvious threat until his handler clicks to the most recent photo of him. With Barry.

The knife is through Barry's heart this time which is without doubt more than enough to set Cisco on immediate alert but there's something else that catches his attention. His eyes slide to the bottom right of the image where the word ‘Live’ is plastered on the wall in black spray paint.

“Can you run through the pictures again?”

Hartley nods and starts the slideshow over. Cisco leans forward placing a hand on Hartley’s desk to steady himself. His eyes stay trained on the bottom right corner of each picture. Over and over again as the sequence continues five words appear in succession.

 _I Know Where You Live_.

“How long did you say he's been in town,” Cisco asks in a small voice.

Hartley’s reply is cut off by Harrison Wells as he strolls into the room, specifically the Cortex where Cisco and Hartley are.

“We don't know. All we do know is that he's after you, Ramon.”

“And Barry,” Cisco says mainly to himself biting at his knuckles. He's a bit preoccupied with worrying about his boyfriend to notice the looks both Hartley and Harry give him.

“Who's Barry?” Harry asks at the same time Hartley says “That's Barry?”

Cisco's head pops up from his hands with a panicked expression etched on his face. Harry looks at him and squints before crossing his arms and cocking his hips to one side, waiting for Cisco to explain himself.

Fun fact of the day. While relationships with civilians aren't exactly banned per se, they certainly aren't encouraged especially not by Harrison Wells. Mainly due to personal experience with his own love life and how badly that had been torn apart by a mission gone wrong. In any case Cisco is well aware of Harry's disdain for distractions so it makes telling him about Barry that much harder. Completely nerve-racking is more accurate and Cisco can feel every muscle in his body tense as he opens his mouth to respond.  

“Confession time,” he says as a humorous primer that falls incredibly flat. “Barry's my boyfriend,” he pauses for a moment and looks away before finishing his sentence. “My civilian boyfriend.”

In that moment Cisco is far more afraid of his boss than he ever will be of Eobard Thawne. Harry stomps forward hard enough to shake the building and heads directly for the agent in front of him.

Cisco leans back as Harry leans into his personal space with a glower strong enough to make even the most confident of people shrink back in terror.

“We'll deal with your idiocy later,” he says making it clear that Cisco is definitely going to be on the receiving end of a stern talking to about his romantic inclinations. “For now go call your boyfriend, tell him to get out of dodge for a while. I don't want civilian casualties to be part of this personal issue.”

Harry stomps off into his own personal office as Cisco scampers off to call Barry.

 

* * *

 

Being knocked out is one of those things in life that Barry's always been curious about because it always seemed so outlandish a possibility. Even working for the police department had never put him in a situation that would result in him losing consciousness. Of course being a crime scene investigator doesn't lend itself to being in the thick of the action. Any action, really aside from a runaway plastic bag full of samples, Barry's still apologizing for that one. All that aside, the curiosity still remains. Now that it's happened though he has to say, he isn't too keen on the whole experience.

His head is throbbing hard enough that he can see it in the sides of his eyes and his arms are sore from being tied behind him, something else that never seemed like an actual possibility until now.

To be honest he isn't sure about the specifics of his situation. All he knows is that he had heard a knock at the door, promised to talk to Iris later and then suddenly nothing. And as hard as he tries he can't recall anything past opening the door and feeling a sharp pain in his neck. Well thankfully the pain in his neck has disappeared but Barry is battling some serious brain fog at the moment so the change doesn't register as anything of importance.  

Maroon 5’s _Sugar_ registers just fine though as it starts to play from somewhere in the room he's in. It's not from a speaker system. The sound is too quiet and muffled for that to be the case. Although Barry's almost certain he knows where the sound is coming from since the song starts just about halfway through the song. The exact place where Cisco's ringtone starts.

Barry shakes his head and looks around the room with wide eyes. He doesn't see anything familiar as he moves his eyes around the room. All he can see are pipes and corrugated metal walls around him. Despite his impaired state Barry realizes that he's probably in some trouble.  His eyes settle on a couple of figures sitting in the room with him, though they're not tied up like him. Instead the two are sitting across from him at what looks like a door but it's hard to tell due to the fact that the door is also corrugated and flush with the walls.

“Hmm, how sweet,” one of them says, the one wearing a black sweater, black jeans, and black combat boots, at least he's committed. “That your boyfriend's ringtone?”

Barry doesn't say anything but his eyes widen in recognition of the fact that the man has his phone and is turning it over in his hands as it continues to ring. And since a picture of Cisco wearing a pair of visor sunglasses with the contact name T’hy’la, Cisco's doing not Barry's, pops up when he calls that explains why the man said boyfriend when his phone went off. Barry swallows in fear.

The other man in the room, the one wearing a gray tank top and dusty beige cargo pants, heaves a sigh and looks up at the one in black with pursed lips. They share a look that Barry doesn't understand before the one in the tank top goes back to fiddling with a lighter rolling his fingers over the flames.

“Alright don't answer. We're not obligated to make small talk, but I figure, since you're gonna be here a while we might as well chat.”

Caught between scoffing and panicking, Barry looks at the man for a moment before the panic hits him full force.

“Where am I?” All traces of brain fog are gone leaving terror in their wake and that makes Barry fairly jittery as he pulls on his restraints.

“Hmm, now that's no way to start a conversation now is it?” Now would be a good time for Barry to roll his eyes but he's too busy being terrified by the current situation. “We should start with introductions.”

Since when were kidnappers so sociable?

“I'm Leonard,” he says dipping his head. Then he points to the other occupant if the room. “And this is Mick.”

Not surprisingly, Barry doesn't feel any better for having learned their names. Honestly he feels worse especially since his heart is banging against his ribs as he looks at the two.

“Where am I?”

Leonard's expression flattens. He purses his lips and lowers his eyebrows at Barry.

“He's persistent,” Mick points out with a chuckle.

“I can see that.”

Mick shrugs. “You might as well tell him, not like it's gonna make a difference.”

Leonard rolls his eyes as he closes his eyelids in exasperation. Barry gets the distinct feeling that he's going to be kept in the dark. Mick gets the same message and shrugs again and cups his hand over the flame from his lighter.

The group falls into silence again with Barry's phone ringing every so often, enough times for Leonard to get tired of it and shut it off in the most dramatic fashion possible by taking off the case, pulling off the back, then ripping out the battery.

At this point Barry's far more annoyed than panicked. Leonard and Mick have done nothing but wander around the room  and ignore Barry's questions which means he has no idea where he is or why the hell they've taken him. So when a knock sounds on the door Barry has to bite his tongue in order to not groan and make his situation worse.

From the doorway a man and woman walk in. The man looks vaguely familiar but Barry can't place it and isn't too worried about doing so since the woman next to him happens to be carrying a couple of guns that look menacing enough to shift Barry's emotional distress back to a solid nine out of ten.

“Glad to see you're finally awake,” the man says with a smile that is alarmingly inviting. “Before we begin allow me to introduce myself. I'm Eobard Thawne.”

Normally, this pause would be an indication for Barry to introduce himself but fear has his jaw clenched shut so hard his face is starting to shake. His silence doesn't seem to matter to Eobard though as the man just smiles and moves on.

“These are my associates, Leonard and Lisa Snart, and Mick Rory,” Eobard tells his captive with the added bonus of pointing to everyone, though Barry knew two out of the three already.

“And you,” he says coming to rest on his knees in front of Barry. He smiles and puts his hands on either side of Barry’s face before prying open his mouth with his thumbs opening it wide enough for Mick to force a gag in it. He stands slowly and looks down on the young man in front of him. “You are going to help me with a very important task.”

 

* * *

 

No doubt about it at this point, Cisco Ramon, secret agent and dumb-ass of the century, is panicking. Barry is missing, he’s not at the apartment, or Jitters, or even the precinct, the multitude of surveillance cameras around town and in Barry's regular haunts confirmed as much. He’s gone and Cisco knows it’s his fault. And what’s worse is they’ve lost the signal from his phone so now they have no way of tracking him which means he could be anywhere. Knowing who he’s with does nothing to ease Cisco’s fear. He can only hope that Eobard intends to use Barry as bait and not revenge.  

“Cisco, are you in here?”

It’s Caitlin, another agent who doubles as the team’s doctor on a frequent basis. She and her husband Ronnie were called in the moment Cisco realized Barry had gone missing, and though she certainly wasn’t pleased to be called away from dinner, the moment the situation was explained she softened a bit. And honestly that only made Cisco feel worse for having ruined two date nights.

“Cisco it’s Barry, he’s-

Cisco slams open the door to his personal office and comes face to face with Caitlin, her face flushed and her eyes wide.

“He’s what?” Cisco asks grabbing her shoulders.

“He’s alive. We just got patched into a video from Thawne and he’s using the news to broadcast a live video of Barry tied up in a room demanding that you-

Cisco's off and running to the Cortex and doesn't give Caitlin the chance to finish. Barry's alive which is more than Cisco had hoped for up to this point. But being in the hands of Eobard Thawne means he may not be soon and that's even more terrifying. More than once while undercover Cisco had to witness captives get tortured and killed in Eobard’s brutal endeavors to gain useful information. He can't let that happen to Barry.

“...three hours to find us and repent for your transgressions against me, Reverb. Come alone. You know the rules.”

“What's he saying?” Panting, Cisco comes to a stop behind Hartley and Ronnie who are seated at the main computer set-up in the room.

“You've got three hours to find him and hand yourself over to save Barry before he starts….” Ronnie doesn't finish and instead looks at Cisco with sympathetic eyes then looking back to Caitlin as she makes her way into the room with the others.

“Yeah I know what he's gonna do.” Cisco cringes as the sound of fingers breaking one at a time resurfaces in his mind.

“We have an answer to one question though,” Hartley says slowly. “He doesn't know you work for S.T.A.R. otherwise he would've sent this message directly to us, he's done that before. Guess he doesn't know your actual name either.”

“I only ever went by Reverb around him, helped fit in with Cold, Heatwave, and Golden Glider.”

“That aside we need to find your boyfriend,” Harry nearly bites through his cheek in anger at having to say that. “Hartley can you trace the source of the video?”

“I've been working on it.”

“Work on it faster.” Hartley regards Harry over the rims of his glasses before rolling his eyes and pulling out his phone.

Hartley shoots off a text to Felicity asking her for help from her own base of operations in Starling.

Harry turns his attention to Cisco and glares intently. “Get ready. Once Hartley finds them you need to go,” he pauses to rub the bridge of his nose. “Ronnie will provide back up should you need it and in the meantime I'll call in Stein, get him up to speed.”

Things get a bit hectic from there with everyone scrambling to get ready. Felicity chimes in to help within a few minutes of Hartley asking, Cisco goes about gathering his supplies for becoming Reverb again, something he thought he'd never have to do, and Martin Stein enters soon enough only to be ushered away by Harry before he can even think to ask any questions for clarification.

The frustrating part for Cisco is that for as much as they all have to do, everything comes together within the hour except for one thing. Even with Felicity’s help, they haven't been able to find where Thawne is keeping Barry and he hasn't dropped any clues so by the time another hour passes nothing changes. Barry is still tied to a chair somewhere and Cisco is pacing and pulling at a leather jacket that feels like it's trying to suffocate him. And he's going to have a massive headache from keeping his hair in such a tight ponytail. He thumbs his goggles impatiently waiting for Hartley to give him Barry's location.

“Got it!”

Cisco darts back to Hartley at his desk fast enough to slide forward on floor. He's got forty-nine minutes left before Barry's in more trouble than he already is.

“Where?”

Hartley directs Cisco's attention to a map he's pulled up on the screen. He points to a spot on the map causing a red flashing dot to appear on the area marking it as a point of interest for their GPS to lock onto.

“Keystone Iron Works.”

And the abandoned Keystone Iron Works is far enough away for Cisco to know that he won't make it in time and when he says as much Harry chimes in helpful as ever.

“Then you'd better get going and hope you get there before his minions get trigger happy.”

Trigger happy with guns of his own making. Because life is like that. In the span of almost four hours too many of Cisco's mistakes have come back with a vengeance with the aim to see him suffer. Well it's working because he's at his wits end.

Both handlers, Hartley and Dr. Stein, send their agents, Cisco and Ronnie respectively, off with as much intel as they can before Cisco cuts them off and tells them to brief him and Ronnie on the way. Barry doesn't have time and with each second that passes Cisco feels the weight of the situation crush him further and further into emotional despair.

“Please let him be okay,” he mutters to himself as he hops into the passenger seat of Ronnie’s car.

 

* * *

 

 A scream tears its way out of Barry's chest and through his teeth when his right middle finger is jerked backward farther than it should go. Eobard caresses the digit slowly before whispering in Barry's ear.

“He's late.”

The finger snaps and Barry howls in absolute agony. He grits his teeth as best he can against the gag in his mouth and breathes faster than he should but the pain is making him dizzy so breathing regulation isn't at the top of his list of priorities.

At Barry's right Eobard pulls what looks like a kitchen timer out of his pocket and punches in a time.

Ten minutes.

Eobard puts the timer in Barry's lap and pats his leg then walks out of the room leaving Lisa and Leonard as his only companions. As the seconds tick by Barry gets dizzier, the adrenaline in his system isn't doing anything to help his heart rate which is in turn making his finger hurt more due to the constant throbbing. His jaw hurts from the gag and his eyes are burning from his tears. Whoever Reverb is Barry hopes he gets a move on it because this is awful and certainly not how he thought his night was going to go.

“Do you think he'll come?” Lisa looks at her brother waiting for an answer.

“After what he did, I wouldn't count on it.”

Lisa pouts. “It wasn't that bad.”

“Bad enough to put the boss down for a solid year,” Leonard says matter of factly.

“Admit it, you loved being in charge and you would've never been there if it wasn't for Reverb.”

Barry watches Lisa bite her lip and pout as Leonard rolls his eyes. She shuffles on her feet for a bit, fiddles with the weapon in her hands and sighs. She looks at the door for a bit then at Barry with a furrowed brow. She doesn't say anything but Barry gets a chill down his spine all the same.

The timer chimes in at five minutes causing everyone in the room to jump at the intrusion, Barry the most as the functionality of his hand depends on it not making it to zero which seems less and less likely as Lisa paces the room and Leonard starts working on his own gun. He pulls the pieces of Barry's phone out of his pockets and puts them on the floor looking at them intently.

Barry yelps against his gag and jerks backward in his chair as Leonard puts on a pair of sunglasses, fires his gun, and ruins Barry's phone with something he's never seen before. Instead of bullets like he had been expecting, a blast of blue light came surging out of the gun, brightening the room briefly before Leonard pulled his finger off the trigger.

“Really, Lenny?”

Leonard smirks and huffs a little air through his nose but doesn't say anything in response.

Distracted by Leonard's antics Barry doesn't notice when the timer ticks down to one minute. He does notice when Eobard steps back in through the door and leans on it after it closes behind him. He holds up his hands, open palmed, and starts walking to Barry timing each step to the second.

Eobard is at Barry's side and still has his hands up until he starts counting down one finger at a time. The moment he reaches five his hand juts out and seizes Barry's right hand again deliberately hitting his already broken middle finger causing Barry jerk back reflexively. The shot of pain that roars through his arm makes him sob harder than before. Out of desperation he looks from Eobard to any one else in the room but Leonard is looking at his gun and Lisa is headed out of the room looking anywhere but Barry.

Slowly wrapping his own fingers around Barry's right ring finger Eobard starts counting verbally, though Barry can barely hear him as his pulse skyrockets at the contact.

Barry hears the timer go off and looks up to see Eobard’s smile.

 

* * *

 

Cisco jumps from the car before Ronnie comes to a full stop outside of Keystone Iron Works. Following Hartley’s directions he sprints through the abandoned facility not waiting for his field partner to catch up. He's already late, he can't waste any more time.

“Hang a left,” Hartley instructs. “You should see a small shed just off of the warehouse at the end of the strip.”

He pushes his legs faster ignoring the burn as he sees the shed across the way. Light filters through the bottom of the door that isn't flush with the ground.

Through his specialized goggles, Cisco can make out three heat signatures inside the supply shed and two outside on either side. Of the three inside one is moving closer to the person in the middle of the room and Cisco is absolutely certain that Barry is in immediate danger.

“Firestorm,” Cisco whispers tapping his radio earpiece. “I need you to hang back and wait for Barry to come out. Thawne has three lackeys and if any of them see you he'll kill Barry.”

Cisco listens to Ronnie’s confirmation and inches closer to the shed. “Once you have Barry don't wait for me just get him out of here. I'll have to ditch my earpiece before I go in.” Mainly because S.T.A.R. has a standard issue piece that Thawne will recognize and check for and Cisco doesn't need this slip up to result in a compromise of the agency.

“Vibe,” Ronnie goes to object.

“We don't have time to argue just do it, please!”

There's a beat of silence before Ronnie agrees and wishes Cisco luck.

Fact of the matter is Cisco's flying by the seat of his pants on this one. Luck’s just about the only thing he's got and based on recent events he can't put too much faith in that.

But Cisco has to save Barry so he sets any doubts he has aside and pulls the earpiece from his ear and sends Ronnie a silent apology as he crushes it under his foot and sweeps the remains under the door of the building next to him.

Briefly he tries to formulate a plan of action but when he hears a muffled beeping coming from the shed that sparks alarms in his head causing him to rush forward toward the structure with no restraint deftly sliding his goggles from his face and into the pocket inside of his jacket.

The door of the shed slams open under the pressure of his hands and clangs against the metal walls loud and hard enough to cause reverberations that announce his arrival.

Upon his entry Cisco is greeted to the sight of Eobard Thawne hovering over Barry while he sobs against the gag in his mouth. When Thawne pulls away to investigate the noise it's clear that Barry isn't doing well. Two of his fingers on his right hand a wrecked with the middle finger swollen about the central knuckle and the ring finger set askew, having been the one most recently broken.

Cisco sees red but is denied the chance to act as a pair of arms pin his own behind his back making leather of his jacket creak in protest.

“Haven't heard from you in a while, Reverb.”

“Good to see you too, Cold,” Cisco says, dropping his register letting his voice crackle slightly, not looking back at the man to respond. His line of sight is focused on Barry and the man walking closer to him with a grin that Cisco knows to be anything but welcoming.

From behind him Cisco can hear the sound of footsteps, clearly boots and heels, so he assumes that Mick and Lisa have joined the party. Fantastic.

Thawne comes to a stop in front of Cisco. The two stare at each other for a moment before Thawne snarls and lashes out. He slams his fist in Cisco's face angling the punch so that the ring on his middle finger clips him hard enough the slice just under his cheekbone. On his way down to recoil from the blow Cisco makes eye contact with Barry, situated in the center of the room. He can see his boyfriend's moment of recognition as they look at each other. Barry's eyes fly open and he starts pulling against the straps around his wrists and ankles. He's yelling frantically against the gag in his mouth but whatever he's saying is muffled and unintelligible due to the fabric.

Cisco bites the inside of his cheek to keep from reacting. Even as the blood slide down his face.

“Check him,” Thawne orders looking at Mick and tossing him an otoscope. And the man obliges digging his fingers into Cisco's jaw in order to grip his face. He shoves the scope into Cisco's ears left then right sighing in disappointment when he finishes.

“Nothin’. He's clean.”

“Of course I am.” Cisco's had enough. “Look, can we speed things up?”

“I don't think you're in any position to be making demands,” Leonard points out but doesn't continue.

And he's right Cisco is in the worst position to be saying anything, attempting to put your boss away for life doesn't earn one any brownie points. But they brought Barry into this so Cisco's not too keen on playing by their rules as of right now.

“You've got something I want, and I know what you want.”

“Is that so?”

Cisco has to actively ignore the butterflies in his stomach as he watches Lisa saunter over to Barry. Thawne fixes him with a glare that spurs him into speaking again.

“You want answers, you want to know why I betrayed you.” Cisco steels his resolve as he tunes out Barry's muffled cries. “And I want him safe. Let him go. Let me take his place, and I'll tell you what you want to know.”

Within the boundaries of being Reverb of course. So long as Thawne is in the dark about his being part of S.T.A.R. Cisco can hopefully keep the collateral damage to just himself while saving Barry in the process along with sparing the team from having to deal with the fallout of his mistakes.

“And I suppose you'll want to see that he makes it out safely.” Not a supposition at all because for as much as Cisco knows Thawne, Eobard knows Reverb just as well and a soft spot for civilians isn't something Cisco can shake by slipping into a leather jacket and some fancy glasses.

Cisco can see the conflict that rolls across Thawne’s face as he regards his ex-ptotégé. 

Leonard drops Cisco at Eobard’s command and stumbles back when Cisco darts forward to Barry.

Apology after apology tumbles out of Cisco's mouth when he comes to a stop in front of Barry. He kneels in front of him and makes quick work of the restraints not giving Lisa time to interfere. The gag is the last to go but when it does Barry's babbling at a record pace, his voice hoarse from his muffled screams earlier.

“Babe, hey I need you to breathe and listen to me,” Cisco says softly eliminating all traces of Reverb from his voice. He raises his hands to cup Barry's face only to have the man shy away, his eyes wide and his breathing frantic.

“What is, why,” Barry can't seem to collect his thoughts and figure out which question to ask first so Cisco tries again to cup his face. Barry leans into the touch this time almost collapsing into Cisco in exhaustion and relief.

“Breathe,” Cisco instructs. “You're gonna be okay, I've got you.”

“What's going on? Where are we?”

“It's too much to explain right now and I'm sorry I wish I could tell you everything but I can't. Just listen to me, there's a car, black Audi Prologue, find it and get out of here okay?”

“No, I, what about you?”

Kissing Barry probably isn't the best idea at the moment but Cisco does it anyway locking their lips together desperately trying to convey the severity of the situation. While he does so, Cisco pulls Barry to his feet steadying him when he stumbles forward, his legs weak and shaky.

Barry and Cisco pull apart gasping for breath as they terminate the kiss. Cisco deflates when he looks into Barry's eyes.

“I'm so sorry you got mixed up in this,” Cisco grabs Barry’s arms in his hands and squeezes. “But you've gotta leave.”

“He's right,” Lisa chimes in with a mock sympathetic pout directed toward the two. “You should get going before the boss changes his mind and doesn't let either of you go.”

Barry isn't stupid and he knows something is going on that is far beyond him. Cisco looks like he's fighting back tears but aside from that his eyes are completely different from what Barry usually sees at the end of a long workday. Big bright eyes that marvel at the world have been replaced by a somber, calculating pair that unnerve Barry to his core. Enough for him to understand that he has to do as Cisco asks.

“Okay.”

Eobard and his cohorts linger behind as Cisco guides Barry to the exit with a hand on his lower back to keep him upright.

They reach the door with Barry stumbling once and Cisco letting a few tears drop before he pushes Barry out of the shed and tells him how to get to the car so that he can run and leave faster.

“I'm sorry,” are the mutual parting words between the couple as Barry musters his resolve to leave Cisco behind and head for the exit of Keystone Iron Works and Cisco steels himself for his confrontation.

Comforted by the fact that Barry will be safe and home soon Cisco lets out a breath of pent up tension as he turns back to face the people behind him.

 

* * *

 

“Barry!”

What now? As if being kidnapped and tortured via finger breaking wasn't enough for one night now he's hearing his name and a voice he's never heard before.

Not that it will do him any good, Barry takes a moment to stop and look around. But it's dark and there are approximately zero lights close enough to him to a make a difference. Essentially,he looks from one menacing patch of darkness to another. And that wouldn't matter except for the fact that he can see something moving toward him now.

When the something turns out to be _someone_ Barry is seized by an almost crippling burst of terror. And at the worst possible moment he freezes and the figure comes closer at a faster pace revealing another leather jacket clad man and even frozen in place Barry's had enough.

“Look, I don't know who you are but you'd better introduce yourself before you get any closer.” Barry is probably the least threatening being within a ten mile radius especially given the fact that he has no way of defending himself with his hand the way it is and his lack of any weapons whatsoever. Also the little quiver in his voice isn't all that intimidating either. Luckily for him he's finally stumbled into someone who isn't out for revenge against his boyfriend so score on that front.

“My name is Ronnie,” the man holds up his hands chest high, open with splayed fingers, and addresses Barry. “I’m Cisco's friend.”

Barry squints. “Prove it.”

“You and Cisco have been dating for two years. Every other Thursday is movie night because you got sick the day you two were supposed to go on your first date to have dinner and see a movie. Cisco showed up at your place with homemade chicken noodle soup and a stack of his favorite movies that you both watched until you fell asleep together on the couch.” Ronnie pauses for a bit and chuckles. “He came into work the next day  happier than he had been in months and left sicker than he'd been in years.”

Well then.

“Okay. I believe you, so what now?” Barry watches Ronnie walk closer a little less uneasy.

“Now, we head back to base and fix up your hand.” Ronnie gestures to the hand Barry is cradling against his chest. “Then we'll figure where to go from there.”

“And what?” Barry asks indignantly. “Just leave Cisco alone with that lunatic?”

“He can take care of himself for now at least.”

Barry wants to call bullshit on that one. After two years of watching Cisco bumble through life with the dorkiest enthusiasm he's ever seen, Barry would swear up and down that his boyfriend is no better equipped to handle himself than a toddler lost in a Toys R Us. But if tonight has proven anything it's that Barry knows less about Cisco than he thought.

A lot less.

Consequently, Barry finds himself in a car with a stranger on the way ‘back to base’ praying that he's making the right choice.

It certainly doesn't feel like he is as Keystone Iron Works fades into the distance.

 

* * *

 

Correspondence Labs flashes by them so fast that Barry almost misses it as they drive deeper into Central City.

“Where are we going?”

“Headquarters,” Ronnie says not taking his eyes off the road which is good since Barry's pretty sure he's seen a few speed cameras go off.

Not for the first time does Barry feel like things are getting a little ridiculous. Headquarters, really?

“Which is where?”

“Here.”

Ronnie pulls into a parking lot just outside of a building that looks like it was pulled right out of a science fiction novel that Barry has seen before but can't for the life of him put a name to, and the lack of logos and name placards doesn't help.

The doors of the car hiss and open when Ronnie comes to a complete stop and slides out of the car. Barry stays seated as though waiting for the go ahead and jumps through the roof when a hand lands on his shoulder.

“Let's go.”

Barry really isn't too jazzed about being in another place he doesn't recognize and he's got two fingers that explain why. And as much as he'd rather go to a hospital there's a good chance someone in the building ahead of him will give him an explanation of what's been happening tonight. Bracing himself, he follows suit and steps out of the car fighting the urge to steady himself against the car with his hand.

“Welcome to S.T.A.R. Labs,” Ronnie tells him as he guides Barry through more halls than there should ever be in one building. They finally come to an end at what Barry assumes is the central point in the structure and the room with the most activity, though that isn't saying much since the halls have been empty and there are only four people inside.

But four people is definitely enough for at least one of to know what is going on and they can certainly give Barry an explanation. And he gets their attention by saying as much.

“Can one of you please tell me what the hell is going on?”

 

* * *

 

There’s a certain sense of normalcy that Cisco feels being trapped in a room with the Snarts, almost like a homecoming, if home were with a bunch of known and wanted criminals lead by a man with a massive vendetta against him. Well, every family has its quirks.

Lisa’s heels click against the concrete floor as she paces around the room. It’s more like stomping at this point and every time she looks at Cisco she picks up the pace and steps a little harder. Cisco’s got a feeling he knows why she’s upset but he’s not going to be the first to say anything, he knows when he’s on incredibly thin ice.

“He’s going to kill you, stupid,” she tells him from across the room. “Why did you come back?”

He really shouldn’t egg her on, and if this were any other occasion he wouldn’t but he’s supposed to be Reverb at the moment and he has a reputation for pushing his luck.

“Thought you of all people would be happy to see me, Lisa.”

He gets distracted by Leonard’s chuckle and doesn’t notice when Lisa makes her way over to him until she’s right in front of him.

“You’re an idiot.” Doesn’t he know it.

“Don’t be so hard on him, Sis. We had his boy tied to a chair. Of course big softie here was gonna come to the rescue.”

That statement only serves to make Lisa twist her face in what Cisco assumes to be a mixture of jealousy and disgust. Understandable since she made her feelings clear for him from the beginning. Feelings that he couldn’t return, no matter how much he had been tempted to at the time it had been an option.

“You never told us about him.” And that’s clearly his cue to tell her why.

“There was nothing to tell, we weren’t together when I was running with you guys.” While that’s technically true his higher judgement tells him that she doesn’t need to know about the ridiculous amount of pining he had been doing in the meantime. That might not go over too well. Or just about as well as him even having a boyfriend at all seems to be going over.

Conversation is cut short when Eobard and Mick walk back into the shed with the latter of the two looking a little disappointed.

“Couldn't find that little friend of yours, guess he made out alright.”

If he manages to get out of this Cisco will definitely owe Ronnie big time. Now he can relax a bit, as best he can with the looming threat of his angry ex boss in the corner waiting to take a knife to his gut. Or heart as the case may be. 

“All of you, wait outside,” Eobard orders. The others scatter with Mick being the first one to skitter out the door with Leonard only a few steps behind. Lisa seems to linger for a moment staring at Cisco with an intensity that makes him squirm under her gaze. But the shiver passes and Lisa steps out of the door letting it bang shut behind her.

Lisa leans against the shed just to left if the door looking up at the sky. Clouds roll by above her and block the minimal light of the moon making an already dismal night darker.

Leonard comes to stand next to his sister. He stays quiet to let her guide the inevitable conversation they're going to have. Mick opts out choosing instead to walk around the shed supposedly on guard duty.

“Do you really think he'll kill him, Lenny?”

“Honestly?” He looks at her from the corner of his eye. “I don't know. The kid was always his favorite but it's hard to come back from a stunt like that.”

A cold early morning breeze rolls through the abandoned facility tossing Lisa's hair around her face.

“Trust is the hardest thing in life to gain and the easiest to lose, Sis.”

The siblings stand next to each other and cringe simultaneously when the sounds of Eobard’s interrogation filter out of the shed and into the night.

 

* * *

 

“We're calling in the police.”

Every vaguely worded horror story Cisco has ever told him about his boss comes rushing back to Barry as he stares Harrison Wells down from his seat on the hospital bed in an offshoot of the Cortex.

“Mr. Allen, when I say we can't bring in the police I mean that literally. As an agency S.T.A.R. Labs is strictly forbidden from involving to police in affairs like this.” Harry is doing his own fair share of staring at the young man in front of him whose face is getting redder with every breath he takes.

“You can't go back for Cisco because you can't jeopardize his cover, a cover that you can't tell me anything about because it's classified.” Barry hops off the bed and knocks his hand against the edge. Harry's almost impressed at the way Barry keeps going despite the obvious pain on his face, although that modicum of respect ebbs away when Barry decides to step into his face and continue to belabor his point. “You can't let me go home because it's not safe and you can't trust me not to talk but do you know what you can do?”

“Mr. Allen!"

“You can let me call the police, since I have to report this anyway.”

Harry stands straighter and lifts an eyebrow.

Barry refuses to be intimidated by Doctor Angry Eyes despite how downright imposing he is. Squaring his shoulders Barry continues on.

“I'm a C.S.I. for the CCPD and they're gonna ask me about tonight since that video was broadcast to the entire city.” Barry continues when Harry raises another eyebrow at him. “They're gonna find out at some point so just please, let me call this in so I can get Cisco back.”

Caitlin walks into the room carrying a complicated system of splints, tape, and Velcro for Barry's fingers.

“Put those down. You don't need to set his fingers yet.”

Caitlin scowls in confusion. “His fingers are broken.”

“I know,” he says looking at the swollen digits. “And we can set them later but for now, Mr. Allen is going to help us get Cisco out of the mess he's in so I need his fingers the way they are for the time being.”

“Sounds like you have a plan,” Caitlin says putting her hands against her hips.

Barry perks up at her words and directs his wide eyes to Harry with hope. And Harry doesn't fail to deliver on that expectation when he tells Caitlin to get the others for them to go over the specifics of his plan.

Barry's cautiously optimistic as he follows the two agents back into the Cortex, cradling his hand against his chest.

And it turns out Harry does have a plan, one that involves sneaking Barry back into Keystone Iron Works for the police to find him along with Cisco, though the specifics of the plan are what make Barry confident it has a chance of working.

Ronnie and Caitlin will actually be the ones to call the police in this case as they will be posing as a couple out for an early morning hike who see something suspicious, that something being lights on in one of the buildings of the abandoned facility iron working facility where they will find Barry.

“And what's your plan when the police ask why Barry's in a separate location?” Hartley brings his arms across his chest and leans back in his chair. “Better yet, what are you going to say when they notice that nobody is guarding him.”

“Guard rotation,” Barry says before anyone else can.

When five pairs of eyes are directed his way Barry feels the need to explain himself, not about the guard rotation since he knows that's a simple concept.

“While I was trapped there the first time there were people guarding me whenever Eobard wasn't there.”

“Which makes sense given that he would want to make sure nothing happened to his collateral,” Dr. Stein muses.

“The thing is they were pretty lazy about it, especially Mick. They'd talk to each other or walk around the outside of the shed. I can just tell the police they were slacking off or something.”

Harry gives a curt nod to the young man and moves to the center if the room from his spot against the entrance wall so that he can address the group as a whole and give everyone their marching orders.

The handlers, Hartley and Dr. Stein, are to stay behind and provide support from HQ while Ronnie Caitlin and Barry are to head to the the garage along with Harry himself who will be providing field support from the van.

The handlers, Hartley and Dr. Stein, are to stay behind and provide support from HQ while Ronnie Caitlin and Barry are to head to the the garage along with Harry himself who will be providing field support from the van.

Cisco risked his life to save him. Barry's ready to do the same.

 

* * *

 

“I'm going for a walk,” Lisa tells the others and pushes off the shed. She doesn't wait for a response.

She walks around aimlessly at first without a destination in mind. The empty alleyways leave a little to be desired on the scale of places Lisa Snart actually wants to be but they're a far cry better than having to listen to her boss torture her friend. Reverb’s pained shouts still echo through her mind even after she's out of earshot. Her course changes when something flits around the corner of the building to her left.

It takes Lisa a few seconds to realize that the shadows moving around are people, people that shouldn't be there. And the protocol in the event of intruders is to alert the boss and wait for instructions. But Lisa isn't feeling too inclined to follow orders at the moment. A seed of rebellion takes hold of her as she lets curiosity win out over loyalty. Briefly she wonders if this is what Reverb felt when he turned against their leader, this unrelenting drive to pull away and push against the monotony of being part of the Rogues, under the thumb of a man at the mercy of someone else. A thought that will have to be shelved until another time.

Stepping lightly, Lisa inches closer to the figures in the distance watching as they make their way to a shed, slightly smaller than the one Reverb is in, that sits at the opposite end of the iron mill.

As of now she has a decision to make. She can either stay put and risk being found out, head back and do her job, or she can follow her instincts and find out what's happening.

Instinct wins out over fear and carries her feet forward with a purpose no longer dulling her steps. Let them know she's coming because at this point it's all or nothing and the younger Snart isn't fond of leaving empty handed.

A broad smile spreads across her face when one of them finally notices her, a man dressed head to toe in black with a scowl deep enough to rival her brother's. He pulls a gun from his side and points it at her.

“Don't move.”

Lisa can't help herself. She sways on her feet for a moment with her hands tucked behind her back with a coy smile. She stops and pulls her own gun with a flourish and a wink for extra flair.

“Mine's bigger.”

The others of the group notice the commotion and dart close enough for Lisa to see their faces in the dim moonlight. Two of them, a man and a woman with identical guns drawn toward her, stand in a defensive position in front of the man she recognized as her boss's captive from earlier, Reverb’s boyfriend.

A bizarre sense of admiration and exasperation wash over her at the sight of him. Not only did he manage to make it out he did so because he has someone who cares enough about him to give up their life for his so the fact that he's willing to waste the opportunity pisses her off. But she can't fault him for his loyalty and that takes the edge off her anger.

“You came back for him.” Lisa directs her observation to the back of the group specifically.

“Of course I did.”

Everyone in possession of a gun still has their respective weapon pointed at someone which makes the casual conversation a bit awkward to carry on with. Hoping that they understand her intentions, Lisa clicks on the safety of her gun and twirls it in her hand behind her head letting snap to the weapon holder there.

She looks at them and waits for them to reciprocate the gesture and they do, however reluctantly. Although the man at the forefront of the group keeps his gun in his hands just a hair away from his belt. Lisa looks at the back of the group again catching the attention of Reverb’s boyfriend with her gaze.

“I'm guessing you've got a plan to help him escape?”

He nods. Lisa smiles at him then turns to the leader and lowers her head just enough to look at him through her eyelashes.

“How can I help?”

Five minutes later and Lisa Snart is walking back to her own group with a tingling sensation rolling over her skin. All she has to do is make sure Mick and Leonard stay put and keep her boss from getting carried away with his current captive.

Reverb’s lucky that Lisa has a plan for both tasks.

Which leads her to explaining everything to her brother and having him distract Mick, however he sees fit which means he'll probably just tell him the plan, while she interrupts the boss and the traitor.

Cold air rushes in when Lisa walks through the door that makes Cisco break out into goose bumps and a shiver. He wishes he'd been allowed to keep his jacket on but beggars can't be choosers especially given the fact that he is at least gag free and only bound by his hands to a support pole in the building. In hindsight, the rigidity of the jacket would probably make everything far more uncomfortable.

Silver linings.

Lisa walks over to them, noticeably ignoring the frustrated looks Eobard is giving her as she gets closer. Cisco can’t help but feel a bit nervous, the look in her eyes is the look that spells nothing but trouble and given recent events he’d very much like to avoid any more trouble than he already has to deal with. But Lisa continues to saunter forward and comes to a stop just in front of him spinning on her heels to face her boss. She doesn’t so much as shake even as he stares her down with that smile that makes skins crawl.

“I want the chance to ask him some questions of my own.”

Eobard cocks his head to the right and looks her up and down before closing his eyes and nodding. “I can’t leave you alone with him.”

“I know and I’m not asking you to. Stay or don’t, I just want the chance to get some answers.”

Admittedly Cisco feels like he’s missing something. There’s a communication that’s happening between the two of them that he’s only barely picking up on but not well enough to comprehend completely.

Eobard gestures out with his hand and backs himself away from the two in an unexpected display of common courtesy.

Guilt sinks it fingers into Cisco’s flesh the moment Lisa’s eyes meet his. And he knows why, because as much as he’d deny it if anyone at S.T.A.R. Labs ever asked, he can’t lie to himself and say he never cared about these people, Lisa, Leonard, Mick. A year of working closely with others leaves plenty an opportunity for connection; add on top of that saving each other’s lives time and again and there’s the perfect situation for genuine emotional attachment. Attachment that makes it difficult for him to look at her for too long.

“Why did you do it?” The lack of anger in her voices intrigues him.

“Do what?”

“Shoot him and leave him on the doorstep of Iron Heights Prison,” Lisa clarifies with a glance back toward Eobard.

Cisco’s reason? The long and short of it, Eobard was getting difficult to hold back, even with gaining his trust, and Reverb became almost impossible to maintain as time went on. So Cisco put an end to everything. The worst part is for how much it hurts Cisco, he knows he can’t feel regret for his actions. Damage control only works for so long so and a cover has a limited shelf life.

Reverb’s reason? “I saw an opportunity and I took it. Don’t look for anything deep, I found out that there was a way for me to get what I wanted, which was a position of power. It backfired end of story.” The same answer he gave Eobard when he asked something similar enough to warrant the same response.

“That would’ve been easier if you had killed him and you know you probably should have just killed him.” Lisa pauses and turns back to Eobard practically simpering. “No offense.”

Eobard frowns and shrugs with a look that says she’s right so there’s no need to be offended. It’s a general fact of life that hypothetical acts of betrayal usually go over better than actual acts of treachery.

“But you didn’t kill him and I know why.”

“Oh?”

Leaning in a little bit Lisa smirks. “You’re a liar.”

Cisco’s heart stops, then starts, then stops again. She could obviously be talking about any number of things but he can feel it, she knows more than she’s letting on and now he definitely has to let her lead the conversation in case he says something that they don’t know.

“Power was the least of your worries, I’ve seen how you work and what you can do, if you wanted it you could’ve taken it without a problem. No, I think you just wanted out. I saw you boyfriend, he didn’t seem the type to date a bad boy. So you had to shape up right? But you can’t do that if you’re in a group like this with people like us. You ran away.”

Cisco should really close his mouth. Having it dangle open certainly isn’t helping his case any. She isn’t entirely accurate with her explanation but he’s almost certain she wasn’t trying to be. That mischievous twinkle in her eyes caught his attention. It was never there without an purpose and now isn’t any different. She's giving him an out with Eobard.

“Given the chance, would you do it again?”

In a heartbeat.

Cisco nods but stays silent he doesn't need the tremor he feels rising in his throat to come out. He feels a hand on the back of his head as he looks up to find Lisa in front of him sporting a softer smile on her face than he ever thought her capable of displaying. Her lips touch his forehead as she leans in and pulls his ponytail free of its hair tie. She ruffles the hair and kisses his cheek but doesn't stop there. In a voice only loud enough for him to hear she says to be prepared and hold out for the next seven minutes and pushes away schooling her features into a scowl that's more for Eobard’s benefit than his.

“I see.” And she's gone before Cisco can even register her walking away.

 

* * *

 

If Barry wasn't currently tied to chair he'd jump for joy. Police sirens are going off in the distance and getting closer.

“Get ready Barry,” Caitlin tells him and kneels next to the ropes around his legs.

The sirens become deafening to the point that he almost misses it when someone bangs on the door causing it to crash open and startle him. But he recovers quickly and begins to pull on his restraints in a repeat performance of the nights earlier events.

“The ropes are too tight, I can't get them loose,” Caitlin spouts out as a group of officers, headed by Joe West and Captain Singh, run toward them, Joe of course being the fastest of them. His appearance is disheveled with his sleeves rolled up asymmetrically and his eyes bright red from exhaustion. Even so, he sprints forward when he locks eyes with Barry across the room.

“Thank god you're okay,” he tells Barry and immediately sets about helping Caitlin with the ropes. And of course as an officer he does ask who she is first and if she's the one who called in the kidnapping and Barry steps in to confirm her story.

She's sporting a black wig in a medium length bob cut with bangs that cover her eyebrows and a pair of black thick-rimmed glasses that make it difficult to see her eyes. Not that it matters since she has contacts on that make her eyes a darker brown bordering on black themselves. And she's introduced herself as Beth to the police as they file in and rescue Barry.

Caitlin tilts her head to the side, presumably listening to Ronnie who is outside explaining their cover story to the police left to case the area. She looks to Barry as Joe pulls him into a bone crushing hug. Time to get the ball rolling.

Barry lets Joe have his hug but pushes against his chest to get his attention. Tears well up in his eyes as he thinks of the situation and though things are going according to plan the gravity of the nights hits him and almost overwhelms his senses.

“Joe,” Barry forces the name out through his teeth. “They have him too.”

“Who?”

“Cisco,” Barry clarifies. “He had to go back to work to do something, I can't remember but he said it was important so he left and I stayed home to work on some reports and then I was here and these people were asking me questions and wouldn't tell me where I was and, and,” he's hyperventilating. And not because it makes him more convincing. 

Joe puts his hands on Barry's shoulders and grips them softly with calming fingers.

“Calm down, breathe, and tell me what you can, Bar.”

Barry lets out a breath, swallows, and starts again. “After that video they made they tried to get more answers out of me,” here he holds up his fingers for Joe to see. He soldiers on past Joe's sympathetic look. “But at some point the boss, he said his name Eobard um, Thawne I think, like Eddie. He told me he didn't need me anymore because someone else could give them information and one of his people dragged Cisco in and I got moved here, I don't know why.”

Joe responds by grabbing the attention of Captain Singh and rehashing the story with an undercurrent of urgency that gets the unit back into gear. Singh begins to hand out orders and things start to pick up again. There are officers that run out in all directions on the lookout for another building that could be housing another hostage.

Joe's partner Eddie radios in with a potential location, a shed being watched by three people.

“Let's go West,” Singh calls to Joe and heads to Eddie leaving Barry with Caitlin and Ronnie, to be watched a few others cops while they wait for an ambulance to catch up to their whereabouts.

Barry watches the men and women of the CCPD fade into the distance and hopes that this nightmare is finally coming to an end.

 

* * *

 

There's a commotion outside that pulls both Cisco and Eobard out of their heart to heart, or fist to gut more accurately.

Joe West, Barry's foster father, bursts into the shed flanked by what looks like the entirety of Central City's police force guns all facing toward the man of the hour.

It's a testament to Eobard’s composure to see him sigh and lower his head and holds up his hands without so much as a word of dissent. He chuckles as his arms are pulled behind his back and a pair of cuffs are linked around his wrists almost in the same time Joe undoes the ropes to keep Cisco bound to the support in the shed.   

Cisco watches as they escort Eobard out into the cool early morning and rubs his wrists.

“It hurt less when they were tied together,” he muses to himself forgetting the man beside him who scoffs.

“I can tie you up again,” Joe offers. He wiggles the rope for emphasis.

Joe West patented shovel talks roll through Cisco's mind. “No, I'm good.”

“Alright, come on Cisco, let's get you out of here,” Joe chuckles and wraps an arm around Cisco, guiding him to the exit.

Walking out, Cisco sees that along with Eobard, Lisa Leonard and Mick are being taken in by the authorities but something is off. Cisco's had to break them out of custody before and while Lisa and Leonard usually stay cool, Mick is a different story, screaming and snapping at anyone and everyone  close enough. But right now he only gives of the vibe of being perturbed at being forced into the back of a squad car. Lisa catches his stare and smiles with a wink as she's ushered to a separate car.

Cisco is one hundred percent confused.

And even more so when an ambulance comes into view with a figure sitting in the back a blanket draped over their shoulders.

Barry?

Cisco walks forward picking up the pace when he can see that it is Barry sitting in the ambulance speaking to one of the paramedics on hand. She taps Barry's shoulder and points toward Cisco with a smile on her face.

“Cisco!”

Barry hops off the edge of the vehicle and sprints to him, a tearful smile plastered on his visage.

Oh, it’s moments like this that Cisco lives for.  The way Barry can’t seem to hide any emotion he happens to be feeling. That openness is what endears him to Cisco so much because there’s no guessing. He never doubts that Barry loves him because when he looks at him Cisco knows that Barry feel the same way he does. Like nobody else matters in the world.

And when Barry pulls Cisco into a hug, he melts into Barry’s chest with tears of his own that sting his eyes, relentlessly reminding him that he could have lost his entire world tonight. That Barry could have been taken from him and it would have been his fault.

Cisco doesn’t stop himself from burying his face in Barry’s chest, damn near weeping in elation.

 

* * *

 

After all is said and done, with everyone patched up and filled in, Barry finds himself back at S.T.A.R. Labs listening to Harry and Cisco battle back and forth over what to do now that Barry is in on the whole, Secret Agents Who Do Secret (And Stupid) Things, plot of the year. And they go on forever.

Caitlin and Ronnie have gone home for the night along with Dr. Stein, leaving Harry, Hartley, and Cisco as the only members left in the lab. Barry finds himself lounging in a chair fiddling with the massive splint from his fingers to his wrist, bored out of his mind. Truth be told he just wants to go home and sleep, no more talking or running around trying to save people or himself for that matter. But of course Cisco’s job is getting in the way of what he wants to do. Again.

Hartley, Cisco handler apparently, is clearly just as bored as he is but he at least has a computer to occupy him, Barry doesn’t even have his phone, which is something he’ll have to fix sooner rather than later. Iris is gonna kill him for not calling immediately after he got home from the hospital with Cisco, but when a phone gets turned into a block of ice it makes keeping in touch a bit challenging. He’ll have to take her out to lunch later, he knows it.

“Enough!”

Barry slips in his chair and looks at the man next to him. Hartley has his glasses in his hands and his eyebrows are pulled tight enough together that Barry’s start to hurt in response.

The handler sighs and folds his glasses into the collar of his long sleeved button down with determination weaving through his movements. Wasting no time he comes to stand just in front of Harry and Cisco daring them to keep talking. Even Barry bites his own tongue as Hartley stares them down.

“I’m ready to go home, believe it or not, I actually need to sleep so here’s what we’re going to do. Barry knows now, and there’s no point trying to keep him out of the loop any more. Tonight proved that he is more than capable of being helpful without jeopardizing our organization so he’s going to work with us,” Hartley holds up a hand when both Barry and Harry go to object. Their silence prompts him to complete his statement. “As a forensic analyst. At least on a consultant basis until something more permanent can be arranged.”

Hartley leaves no room for negotiation and walks grabs his cardigan from the back rest of his chair shuts off his computer and leaves wishing Barry a good rest of his night, and though it is now technically morning, Barry wishes him the same and watches him exit the Cortex in a huff.

Can silences transcend awkward? Final answer, yeah probably if they’re anything like this.

Harry and Cisco have both sort of just deflated, both of them with pursed lips and wandering eyes.

“Okay then, I guess that’s settled?” Cisco shifts his gaze back to Harry cautiously.

Harry rolls his head back and sighs at the ceiling with his hands on his hips. Then, he raises his hand and drags it down his face, pulling his head back to down to look at Cisco. Cisco rocks on his heels and purses his lips fervently, waiting for Harry to say something.

“Go home, Ramon. We’ll figure out what to do later.” Well it’s something and Cisco clearly isn’t willing to push the subject. Harry turns and goes to follow same route as Hartley before stopping and turning to Barry. “Have a good night, Mr. Allen.”

“You too?”

Harry puffs air from his nose and smirks on his way out leaving Barry and Cisco to their own devices.

The size of the room only serves to amplify the distance between the two, with Barry seated at the computer desk of the room and Cisco standing across from him. Cisco keeps his eyes down and his hands in his pockets.

Barry sighs and hazards an attempt at conversation. “You know, when I said movie night should be an action-packed movie night this week I didn’t know you’d take it this far.”

Cisco bites his bottom lip but giggles despite himself. He shifts in place from one foot to the other before deciding to move closer to Barry. He comes to a stop next Barry’s chair close enough for Barry to grab him by the waist and pull him into his lap. Cisco squirms for a second before getting comfortable having turned around enough to be face to face with Barry.

“I’m so sorry, Barry,” Cisco whispers putting his forehead on Barry’s. “For everything. For lying to you, for getting you caught up in all of this,” he gestures loosely around the room and sighs closing his eyes. “I’m just so sorry. I put you in danger”

Barry hums and closes his eyes. “Well it’s a start.”

“Huh?”

“Since we got back I’ve been thinking about how you can make it up to me you know? Apologize for keeping such a big secret for so long. Not telling me you were a secret agent and all that.”

Cisco opens his eyes to see Barry smirking and looking at Cisco, a little cross eyed due to their proximity. He smiles when he meets Cisco’s gaze. “Wanna know what I’ve come up with so far?”

Yes and no. See, Cisco was almost certain the minute he rescued Barry he would never see him again, and when he did, he was even more certain that after the rush of emotion wore off Barry would want to break it off, so admittedly Cisco is curious but also distinctly terrified of what Barry might say next. But he tells Barry to go for it anyway. Just rip the band-aid off as fast as possible.   

“First, you have to promise me there won’t be anymore lies about your job. You don’t have to tell me everything, I get that sometimes you won’t be allowed to give me details, but just no more lies.”

Cisco can deal with that but Barry’s got more to say so he sits tight and waits for the rest, nodding along as Barry rolls through his list.

“Next, you take tomorrow and the weekend off. Joe won’t let me back to work until Monday and I’m not going to be stuck at home, alone for the weekend, especially now that I know what you’re doing when you’re not at home, Secret Agent Man.” 

“Okay, done.” Cisco isn’t sure that Harry will be too fond of the idea but he can’t bring himself to care when Barry smiles at him.   

“And one more thing.”

“Which is?”

Barry waits a moment and pulls back from Cisco so that he can see him better. Cisco gets a little worried when Barry smirks and pokes him in the chest.

“Make-up sex.”

It takes about three seconds for the comment to register before Cisco’s snickering like an immature fourteen-year-old.

“Really, Bar?”

“Don’t laugh,” Barry says, fighting back a few giggles of his own. “You owe me a ton of make up sex after all of this. On the couch, maybe in the shower, and of course in the bedroom but you’ll have to be creative for that one.”

Both of them wind up tangled together in a fit of laughter, with Barry trying to make sure that Cisco doesn’t fall off onto the floor as they shake and shift on the small piece of furniture.

When their laughter finally dies down there’s a feeling of belonging and forgiveness that envelopes Cisco in it’s warmth, that same warmth he gets when he’s near Barry for any amount of time.

“You, Barry Allen, are amazing,” Cisco says and leans into the kiss that Barry initiates when he does so bringing his hands up to hold Barry closer. Barry hums and pulls away a little with a gleam in his eye.

“I didn’t quite catch that, say it again.”

Gladly.

“You,” kiss. “Are,” kiss. “Absolutely,” kiss. “Fantastic,” kiss.

  

**Author's Note:**

> I'm marking this as finished but I feel like there might be more I can and want do with this. We'll see what happens.


End file.
